A deadly inferno has torn through a massive housing complex in Hong Kong, killing at least 83 people with many more still missing, in the city’s worst disaster in decades.

Dozens have died in one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires ever, but a number of factors have made the Chinese enclave susceptible to such tragedies.

It is unclear how many people were in Wang Fuk Court when the fire broke out, but the more recent census figures suggest it is home to around 4,600 residents. Hundreds of them have been evacuated to temporary shelters, and some are being allocated emergency housing units.

A new photography book delves into the architectural heritage of the hulking affordable housing estates developed between the ’50s and ’80s. The 35-story-tower blocks of Hong Kong’s Ying Ming Court housing estate, built in 1989 in the New Territories.

The previous major fire in November 1996 in Kowloon killed 41 people in a commercial building over the course of roughly a day.

A devastating fire has ripped through a high-rise public housing complex in Hong Kong, killing at least 55 people, making it the city's deadliest in more than 60 years. More than 270 people have been reported missing and thousands of residents are in evacuation shelters.

Anger is rising as finger pointing begins, with media also slammed for early narratives. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Briefing newspersons on Friday afternoon, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung explained that the fire is believed to have originated near the lower-floor mesh netting of Wang Cheong House and rapidly spread because of the highly flammable styrofoam attached to the windows.

Jason Poon, a whistle-blower who has previously exposed shoddy construction work in Hong Kong, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that fire hazard risks existed in scaffolding at many housing complexes.